Floor Four
by Rhianonymous
Summary: Phils an IT guy for a big company and takes care of floors 1-3, but when one of his colleagues is busy he needs to step in and take care of floor four too. Every one keeps talking about the 'Tyrant' manager of that floor, but can he really be as bad as he sounds? Au.


Pairing - Phan

Warnings - None.

Summary - Phils an IT guy for a big company and takes care of floors 1-3, but when one of his colleagues is busy he needs to step in and take care of floor four too. Every one keeps talking about the 'Tyrant' manager of that floor, but can he really be as bad as he sounds?

* * *

"Phil, There's a job for you on floor four! A PC won't switch on fully and a faulty keyboard!" My boss calls from his office.

"Floor four? But that's Larry's floor…" I answer, spinning around in my swivel chair with a busted circuit board I was trying to repair clutched in my hands.

"I know, but Larry's got all the computers on floor five to re-update already, never mind the three faulty PC screens on floor six to replace. Please Phil, just this once?" He begs, walking out of his office to make an over-dramatic puppy dog face at me.

"Fine, Fine! But i'll be taking an extended lunch afterwards okay?" I grumble, placing the faulty circuit board back at my work station.

"Of course, that's no problem! Thanks Phil, you're a life saver." He beams, breathing a sigh of relief. "A word to the warning though. The manager of floor four is renowned for being a bit of a grump, so try not to mess around too much when you're up there."

"C'mon Sam, you know me. I've never slacked off a day in my life." I grin, grabbing my lanyard with my work pass attached to allow me to roam freely through the sixteen story building.

"Yeah right, says the man who spent three days constructing a fully functioning automatic cereal dispenser out of left over wiring and mother board panels." Sam grumbles, rolling his eyes at me.

"Complains the man who uses it daily!" I protest.

"I never said it wasn't a good idea." He smirks, turning back to his office. "Now hurry up. I don't want that manager calling down to nag at me. You need desk banks Wc7 and Wc8."

"I'm going!" I call over my shoulder, heading to the basement lifts. Luck seems to be on my side as the lift doors open within seconds of me swiping my pass through the reader and I clamber inside, jabbing the button for the fourth floor lazily. Generic elevator music plays softly as I scuff my shoes against the floor, tugging the hem of my red polo displaying the company's name boldly on the left breast.

_'__Floor four. Doors opening.' _ The mechanical voice of the lift's recorded message chimes, the metal doors sliding open shortly after.

I step from the lift, ruffling up my fringe slightly out of habit and making my way to the reception desk near the doors to the main office space.

"Uh hi, Phil from IT. Someone called for a repair?" I start, making the busy receptionist jump.

"Oh sorry, Yes! Thank goodness you're here, any longer and I think he would have fired me." She sighs in relief, standing up from her desk to show me where i'm needed.

"He?" I question, following after her.

"Oh, the manager of this floor. He's a bit of a tyrant to tell you the truth, but we get the best numbers across the boards so he must be doing something right." She answers, her shiny black heels clicking against the floor. "Okay Phil, this is where you're needed. Sally, Janine, this is Phil. He's the technician they've sent to get everything sorted for you guys."

Two women sit next to each other at adjoined desks, a cup of coffee each set in front of them and an open gossip magazine between them.

"Afternoon ladies." I greet, nodding my head towards them.

"Well, good afternoon to you too." One of then beams, winking at me. I laugh at her boldness, shaking my head in amusement.

"Oh never mind her, she flirts with anything with a pulse. Nice to meet you Phil, I'm Janine." The other rolls her eyes, reaching out and shaking my hand.

"Well now that you're all acquainted, I must be off before the boss man sees that i'm missing. See you later!" The polite receptionist calls over her shoulder.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me." I smile, tugging at the hem of my shirt again. "Now, who has the faulty keyboard?"

"That would be me." Janine answers, moving from her seat to allow me space to work.

"Okay, let's have a look." I mumble, sitting down and doing routine checks on the offending object. "When did it stop working?"

"About an hour ago. I knocked it a little by accident and then it stopped working completely, no lights or anything." She answers sounding confused. I stop what i'm doing and stand from my desk, instead crawling under the desk to get to the mother board.

"I think I know what the problem is." I call, my voice probably sounding muffled from under the desk. I check all the wires at the back of the board and see one of the usb's hanging out. I fix it back in to place and starts to crawl out from the desk. "An easy fix."

"The lights are back on!" Janine shouts in excitement quickly being shushed by Sally.

As I finally escape the confines of the desk I hear a door fly open nearby and the stomp of shoes.

"What on earth is going on out here?!" a voice booms and I turn around to see an angry face and flash of brown hair.

"Sorry Mr. Howell." Janine apologises quickly. "Phil here has come from IT to repair the problems I mentioned earlier, I got a little carried away."

The tall, tanned man's eyes flick to meet mine and he looks at me un-comprehendingly for a few seconds.

"Where's Larry? He's the technician for this floor is he not?" He asks, crossing his arms tightly.

"He has a lot of work to do on his other floors, and mine are pretty quiet. Sam sent me in his place, I hope that's okay?" I ask, still awkwardly crouched near the desk. He blinks at me owlishly before turning back to his office.

"As long as the job gets done." He huffs, walking off. "Just because two of my employee's are unable to work doesn't mean that the rest should be affected. Keep the noise down."

With the slam of his door we remain quiet, the silence only getting disturbed with my quiet snort of laughter.

"So that's the tyrant huh?" I ask, heaving myself up from the floor.

"That's him… Daniel Howell himself." Sally grumbles, moving from her seat to allow me to fix her computer.

"Wow, that bad huh?" I chuckle, switching the PC on to see what the problem was.

"You don't understand Phil, he's so strict!" Sally whines, flicking her hair in frustration. "I came back from my break ten minutes late once, and he made me work it back at the end of my shift!"

"That was actually pretty fair Sal, you were just annoyed that you were a little late for your date." Janine intercepts, grabbing her coffee from her desk. "But he once made an intern cry on their first day."

"Really?" I ask interestedly, accessing the screens I needed in order to hard re-boot the computer. "How'd that happen?"

"Oh the poor dear spilt coffee over Mr. Howells shirt sleeves and one of his cufflinks got irreparably stained. With such a well paid job, we didn't think he'd be that upset but he went absolutely mental. The intern was out of here faster than you can say decaf." Janine recounts, sipping at her coffee distractedly.

"Yeah, he can be a real piece of work. If he wasn't so good looking, I'd probably dislike him a lot more." Sally giggles, leaning against the desk.

"Sally you can't say that! He's a married man." Janine scolds, shaking her head at her.

"Oh relax! I'd never actually do anything, but I can look can't I?" Sally defends herself, peaking over my shoulder to see my progress. "But I can't say that I don't feel sorry for his wife though."

"Yeah, can you imagine him at home? He probably orders her around like nobodies business." Janine muses. "Speaking of marriage, I can't help but notice the ring on your finger there Phil. You married?"

"Six years and counting." I beam, stopping my efforts on the keyboard to feel the gold band around my finger with my thumb leisurely.

"The good looking ones are always taken or gay!" Sally whines.

"Or in my case, both." I smirk, making Janine laugh at Sally's shocked expression.

"I'm doomed to be single all my life!" Sally states before collapsing into a chair dramatically.

"Now Sally, theres more to life than getting a boyfriend. Besides that, i'm sure there's a handsome someone out there with an unlimited credit card just for you." Janine comforts, patting her on the shoulder lightly. "How are you coming along Phil?"

"Actually, i'm all done. It shouldn't give you anymore problems." I smile, pulling myself from the generic blue office chair.

"Thanks Phil, you're a life saver." Sally smiles, filling the seat I just vacated quickly.

"No problem, I think you'll find it comes with the job." I tease. "I guess I better go tell boss man i'm all done then huh?"

"Uh, I don't think you want to do that Phil… He get's pretty cranky around lunch time." Janine warns, looking at me with wide eyes.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, I'll hedge my bets." I assure her, moving to the door a few meters away and knocking firmly.

"Who is it?!" The rooms occupant shouts loudly, making me smirk in response.

"Why don't you open the door and find out?" I answer back, ignoring the shocked gasps that come from Sally and Janine at their desks behind me.

"What?! Just who do you think you are? I'm extremely busy, I don't have time to-" I hear bellowed before the door swings open and i'm face to face with the renowned manager of floor four. He cut's his sentence off and looks at me in surprise for a few seconds.

"Afternoon Mr. Howell. I just came to inform you that I have repaired the faults reported." I smile, watching his eyes blink rapidly as he focuses.

"Very well. I trust they have been repaired without a fault?" He asks.

"Oh, of course. Actually, this was my last job before I go on an extended break." I answer, a smirk spreading across my face.

"Is that so?" The brunette answers me simply, his eyes shifting from mine to the office behind me.

"It is. And I was just on my way to ask my wonderful husband if he'd like to join me." I beam, watching a light blush that flashes across his tanned face.

"Oh?" he responds simply.

"Yes, It's a shame really. Someone just told me that he's far too busy to make time for me, so I guess I'll be eating alone." I tell him, pouting my lips out ever so slightly. "But that can't be helped. Oh well, Afternoon Mr. Howell."

I turn and walk a few paces away before he reaches out and grabs my arm.

"Now hold on a second Phil, I believe I said I was too busy to be answering doors to nameless strangers. However, I am never too busy for you." Dan protests, tugging me around to face him. "Wait two-seconds while I grab my jacket."

He disappears into his office for a few moments and I take to opportunity to look over and see the stunned faces of Janine and Sally at their desks. I wink at them playfully milliseconds before Dan returns.

"Ready to go?" I ask, holding my hand out for him to take.

"More than ready. I thought this morning was going to kill me." He grumbles, leaning over to peck my lips quickly as he clutches my hand.

"You're the one that left the house without his coffee." I grin, squeezing his hand in mine. "Oh and by the way, Why didn't you tell me the cufflinks I bought you got stained?"

"What? How did you find out?!" Dan splutters, looking over his shoulder to see the still shocked faces of Sally and Janine a few desks away. "They told you didn't they. I didn't want you to get upset."

"Now why would I get upset? It was hardly your fault was it?" I ask.

"I suppose not…" He answers meekly, slowing down his pace as we reach the lifts.

"Exactly. Now, where to for lunch?" I ask, fiddling with my work pass in order to call the lift.

"Starbucks?" Dan smiles, tilting his head cutely.

"Anything for my hubby." I tease, making him roll his eyes at me.

I scan my pass through the electronic reader to call the lift, which opens within a few seconds. We move inside, leaving the words 'Phil Howell' electronically displayed on the reader to the empty reception area before the lift door close behind us.


End file.
